Slicing knife



SLICING KNIFE Filed NOV. 16, 1945 MYI INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 9, 1948 UNTED STATES PATENT `OFFICE SLICING yKNIFE Harry M. Gustafson, Chicago, Ill., lassigner to Simmons Slicing `Knife Company, Chicago, flll.,

a corporation of 'Illinois Application November 16, 1'945, fSera-l No. 629,116

claims. l

The present invention relates to a slicing knife and more particularly toa slicing knife having an adjustably positioned knife blade relative to a guide,

In slicing operations the home it is frelquently desired to perform slicing operations which will result in uniformity of slices. For example in the slicing of cold cuts of meat yand the like it be desirable to make a number of relatively thin On the other hand other food stuffs are preferably sliced with a greater thickness as is the case with breads and rolls. One of the problems heretofore encountered in slicing knives has been the difficulty of sharpening such knives, particularly where the knife is provided with either a scalloped or a serrated edge. It, therefore, would be advantageous if it were possible to o btain knife blades which are replaceable much in the manner in which safety razor blades are replaceable. In accordance with the present invention these and other objectives are obtained by providing a slicing knife which has a body portion which serves as a guide. A removable adjustable and replaceable knife Ablade is mounted parallel. to the body of the knife. 4 The knife blade may be positioned in one of a number of different positions so `as to provide different spacings for different vthicknesses of slices.

It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide an improved slicing knife having a knife blade which is readily adjusted relative to a slicing guide.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved slicing knife having a readily replaceable blade.

Other and further objects of the present invention subsequently will become apparent by reference to the following description taken in f connection with the accompanying drawing wherein Figure i is a side View of a .slicing knife embcdying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the slicing knife shown in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a side view of the replaceable knife blade;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view through the knife supporting stud as seen in the direction of the arrows along the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the knife supporting arrangement as seen in cross section in the direction of the arrows aloner the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

slices of uniform thickness.l

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one :element of the .supporting stud illustrated 'in Figure .4; and

Figure "i is a 'perspective view of .another aele- :ment .of the supporting `stud 4shown in Figure 4.

.A slicing knife constructed in .accordance lwith the present :invention is shown in Figure 1 having 1a .body portion it and an integrally `formed handle i2. The Abody portion adjacent each of its lends is Aprovided with suitable :apertures :I4 `and i6 .for `receiving mounting studs t8 :and 12S) respectively. Between the apertures Id and 1:6 the body iii may have a tapered or 'narrow con- :figuration formed by the surface '22 so as .to provide additional clearance between the body rand `the adjustably positioned knife blade. .A removable knife blade ,24 is .carried by 'the ,studs i8 and 2l! parallel tothe body ll'ii. 'The knife blade 24 may .have a scalloped edge :26 vas shown in Figure :3 or .any `other suitable form :of edge such .as a straight Aknife edge or a .serrated knife edge. While a .scalloped knife :edge has been shown, it will be appreciated that the slicing knife. may be `.provided with .a plurality fof vdifferent knife blades which may be inserted 'for different slicing operations.. It will ybe vnoted that at lthe 'right end in 'Figure 3 'the knife blade 24 has 'a relatively narrow notch 28 for engagement with the Astud :2o whereas at 4.the left end a v'much Wider notch 30 is .provided for engagement with the stud le. While the two studs may be of similar construction, .it is preferable vin .many cases to provide .a diiierence so that the blade 2'4 is capable of "being placed upon the :supports in "only one direction. This is V.particolariy de `sira'b'le for knife blades of 'the serrated kedge type where the points `of the teeth of the yedge are .in-

clined in y,one direction.

The stud i8 is shown in detail in Figure 4 .and is mounted in a recess il4. The stud fi8 has Airnmediateiy beneath `the head an enlarged portion 32 which may :be knurled as shown or :otherwise `given .a configuration so that the stud IB vis fixedly `mounted in the recess .I4 against rotation. The stud IB has a reduced diameter portion 34 which adjacent one end is threaded at 3S to receive a thumb nut 38. A sleeve 4l! is mounted directly upon the reduced diameter portion 34. The sleeve 4D carries a plurality of spacing washers 42. The sleeve 4!) which is also shown in perspective in Figure 6 is provided with an enlarged portion 44 which preferably is knurled so as to be readily grasped by the fingers. The sleeve portion 4U has an aperture 46 arranged so that the sleeve 4D serves as van eccentric member. The

`screw 50.

3 eccentric member is provided so that when the blade 24 is placed upon the studs I8 and 20 the portion 44 may be grasped with the fingers and rotated to apply a certain amount of longitudinal tension to the blade 24. Thereafter the thumb nut 33 is engaged to tighten the washers 42 against the blade 24. It will be noted that the sleeve 40 is somewhat shorter than the total distance between the outer surfaces of the outer washers so that the thumb nut 38 applies a coercive force against the washer to frictionally engage and retain in position the knife blade `24.

If desired the right end stud 20 may be of similar construction to the stud i8, but as previously mentioned it is preferabley particularly for serrated replaceable knife blades to form the stud 20 so that it has a smaller diameter shaft which ts into the notch 28. The smaller diameter shaft is provided with a plurality of washers 48 which are retained in positioned by a thumb An additional washer 52 is .provided adjacentl the body il] of the knife blade. The washer 52 may have a different thickness than vthe washers 48 that is of a thickness equal to From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the present invention contemplates a slicing knife with an adjustably positioned blade to which tension is applied to give proper rigidity and minimum flexibility to the blade 24 during use. It

furthermore will be appreciated that a new re-v placeable blade may be inserted at any time that the old blade has outlived its: usefulness.

While for the purpose of illustrating and describing the present invention, a preferred embodiment has been shown in the drawing, it is? to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereby since such variations in the structural elements and in their arrangements are contemplated asmay be commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the .following claims.

This invention is hereby claimed as follows:

l. A slicing knife comprising an elongated body member, a handle for said body member, a pair of supporting studs carried by said body member at longitudinally spaced points thereon, a sleeve mounted on one of said studs, a plurality of spacing washers, certain of said washers being slidably mounted on said sleeve and others of said washers being slidably mounted on the other stud, a removable knife blade mounted onv said studs in spaced relation to said body member and rdisposed between selected pairs of said spacing Washers, said sleeve having an enlarged gripping portion and an eccentric knife-tensioning portion, said knife blade having a recess therein t0 receive said eccentric portion, and thumb nuts respectively threaded on said studs for squeezing together all said parts mounted on each of said studs thereby to secure said blade under tension.

2. A slicingyknife as set forth in claim 1, wherein the washers which are mounted on said sleeve are disposed on said eccentric portion intermediate said gripping portion and one of said thum nuts.

3. A slicing knife as set forth in claim 1, wherein the length of said eccentric portion is less than the combined thickness of the knife blade and the washers mounted on such portion.

4. A slicing knife comprising an elongated body member, a handle for said body member, a pair of supporting studs carried by said body member at longitudinally spaced points thereon, an eccentric sleeve mounted on one of said studs, a plurality of spacing washers, certain of said washers being slidably mounted on sai-d sleeve and others of said washers being slidably mounted on the other stud, a removable knife blade mounted on said studs parallel to said body member and disposed between selected pairs of said spacing washers, said knife blade having an inclined notch therein to receive said sleeve, a finger grip on said sleeve for turning said sleeve to place said blade under tension, and thumb nuts respectively threaded on said studs for squeezing together all said parts mounted on each of said studs thereby to secure said blade under tension.

5. A slicing knife comprising an elongated body member, a handle for said body member, a pair of supporting studs carried by said body member at longitudinally spaced points thereon with one of said studs provided with cam means extending longitudinally thereof, a plurality of spacing members carried by each of said studs, a removable knife blade mounted on said studs parallel to said body member and disposed between selected pairs of said spacing members, said knife blade being recessed to provide an edge against which said cam means is adapted to be urged to tension the blade, means for shifting said cam means into tensioning contact with the said edge, and means respectively engaging the ends of each of said studs for squeezing together all the parts associated therewith thereby to secure the blade under tension.

' HARRY M. GUSTAFSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 270,822 McCheSney Jan. 16, 1883 1,305,906 Krapf June 3, 1919 1,378,551 Miller May 17, 1921 1,764,951 Hare June 17, 1930 2,355,755 Simmons Aug. 15, 1944 

